Dodger Thoughts

In Postgame

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By Jon Weisman

Jose Peraza isn’t purely a September callup. The 21-year-old second baseman-center fielder, the youngest Dodger position player since Adrian Beltre, had 13 plate appearances in four games for Los Angeles before today’s turn of the calendar.

But we’ll call him a late addition to the Dodgers, and what an addition so far.

The young sparkplug ignited and then all but sealed the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory over Giants ace Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants, moving Los Angeles to a 5 1/2 game lead in the National League West.

“He seemed to play fearless,” Don Mattingly said.

In the third inning, Peraza singled and soon after raced home from second base for the Dodgers’ first run off Bumgarner. And in the eighth inning, shortly after Joc Pederson’s homer off Bumgarner doubled the Dodger lead, Peraza made a spectacular play, backhanding a Brandon Belt grounder with the tying run on second base and glove-flipping to Jimmy Rollins to start an inning-ending double play.

“I was looking to get it over to Jimmy,” said Peraza, who said he practices glove-flips periodically. “Thank God it worked out.”

In doing so, Peraza saved a vintage Zack Greinke outing from the wastebasket. Greinke allowed no runs on two hits over his first seven innings, then gave up three singles for a run in the eighth, setting up the game’s most dramatic moment.

Luis Avilan, relieving Greinke, allowed a long foul ball on his first pitch and needed seven in all to get Belt, but thanks to the double play, retired his 11th batter in a row over the past six games.

Peraza dropped a second-inning pop-up for an error — so much for perfection. But that was soon a distant memory.

“Maybe I do,” said Peraza, about whether he feels the pressure of being thrust into a Giants-Dodgers pennant race in his fifth Major League game, “but it basically comes down to me doing my job, and thank God things turned out well.”

Dodgers recall Joe Wieland, increase active pitching staff to 16

In his only game with the Dodgers this season, Joe Wieland allowed six runs in 4 2/3 innings May 6 at Milwaukee. (Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)

By Jon Weisman

In the wake of Monday’s 14-inning game, the Dodgers added Joe Wieland to a September 1 recall list that already included Mike Bolsinger and Ian Thomas. Joel Peralta was also officially activated from the disabled list.

Wieland has a 4.59 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in Triple-A this season, but improved to 3.38 and 1.09 in August. With the Dodger bullpen throwing nine innings Monday and 17 1/3 innings since Saturday, Wieland provides another backup arm. Los Angeles has 16 pitchers on its active roster at present.

There are increasing indications that Mike Bolsinger will make a spot start for the Dodgers in their upcoming four-game series at San Diego, though nothing definitive has been stated.

In addition, to make room for Justin Ruggiano on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers recalled Josh Ravin (hernia) and placed him on the 60-day disabled list. Ravin has not pitched in a game since July 25.

Justin Ruggiano starts in Dodger debut

In Pregame, Transactions

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Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Jose Peraza, 2B
Justin Turner, 3B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Scott Van Slyke, RF
Justin Ruggiano, LF
A.J. Ellis, C
Zack Greinke, P
Joc Pederson, CF

By Jon Weisman

Tonight, Justin Ruggiano plays his first game for the Dodgers, more than 11 years after they drafted him. His reward — a Los Angeles debut against Madison Bumgarner.

In trying to find a winning combination against Bumgarner, who is undefeated against the Dodgers this year, the outfield has been is a bit of a riddle. Though there has been occasional on-base success, no Dodger outfielder has a run or an RBI against the Giants ace in 2015:

Andre Ethier, 1 for 1
Alex Guerrero, 1 for 7
Chris Heisey, 0 for 2 with a walk
Kiké Hernandez, 2 for 4 (one double)
Joc Pederson, 1 for 6 (double)
Yasiel Puig, 1 for 3 with a walk
Scott Van Slyke, 3 for 10

Hernandez and Puig, of course, are on the disabled list. Guerrero did hit a two-run home run off Bumgarner as a pinch-hitter, but is 6 for 49 with no walks since July 1.

And while Ethier has emerged as the Dodgers most productive outfielder, that has become almost exclusively against right-handed pitching. He has a .515 OPS vs. lefties this year, and has not OPSed above .650 against southpaws since 2008.

Will Ruggiano do any better? Well, hitting lefties is his calling card — an .835 OPS in 488 career plate appearances, including .823 for Seattle in 43 plate appearances this season.

In nearly the smallest of sample sizes, Ruggiano (pictured at right with the Dodgers’ Double-A team in Jacksonville in 2006) has thrived against Bumgarner, with a single, homer and two walks — along with one precious “reached on catcher’s interference” — in six plate appearances.

Another right-handed hitter Don Mattingly likes against Bumgarner? Zack Greinke. This is the second time this year that Mattingly is batting his starting pitcher eighth, but the first time that he means business with it. Yimi Garcia batted eighth July 6 in a game the Dodgers knew they would use a pinch-hitter for him.

Greinke is 0 for 2 lifetime against Bumgarner, and has a .629 lifetime OPS against lefties. Don’t expect miracles: As Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. noted, though this is a matchup of the past two Silver Slugger winners, neither has allowed a single hit to a pitcher in 2015.

If anything, the Dodgers need to worry about Bumgarner, who is also batting eighth. Bumgarner has five home runs and an .810 OPS in what is the greatest hitting season for a pitcher since Carlos Zambrano in 2011.

Dodgers turn to Greinke to vanquish Bumgarner

In Pitching

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Jason O. Watson/Getty Images

By Jon Weisman

I’m going to say that Madison Bumgarner has had the Dodgers’ number this year.

In fact, I’m going to say that Bumgarner got that number not here at Dodger Stadium in 2015, but in Kansas City on October 29, 2014, when he completed the postseason of the ages, the postseason so many of us thought Clayton Kershaw would have.

For so long, it was Kershaw who had the Giants’ number. Through 2014, Kershaw had a 1.43 ERA against the Giants in 180 career innings, with 191 strikeouts.

Not this year. The Giants have won all three Bumgarner starts against the Dodgers this season. All three of them against Kershaw. All three of them in the so-called “What’s wrong with Kershaw?” period, the last of them in a game so twisted that it may have hit the reset button for Kershaw’s season.

On April 22, Bumgarner and Kershaw neutralized each other, each allowing two runs in six (Kershaw) or 6 1/3 (Bumgarner) innings. Before opposing pitchers had figured out Alex Guerrero the way they now seem to have, the National League’s April Rookie of the Month hit a two-run, game-tying homer off the Giants lefty. The game came down to the bullpens, with San Francisco walking off against Chris Hatcher and J.P. Howell in the bottom of the ninth.

Six days later came more of a true pitchers’ duel. Buster Posey drove in runs in the first and fourth innings off Kershaw with a single and a homer, but the Dodgers scratched across a run in the bottom of the fourth to close the gap. But there was no scoring after that, with Bumgarner putting out threats in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

Then came May 21, the throw-up (your hands) game, in which Bumgarner was in trouble (seven hits and two walks in six innings) but causing trouble (homering off Kershaw in the third inning). Once again, Bumgarner’s brand of trouble won.

Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers

Since that date, in 126 2/3 innings, Kershaw has a 1.28 ERA against all comers.

Tonight, Bumgarner faces Zack Greinke. And if there’s anyone that has anyone’s number, it’s Zack Greinke vs. the Giants. As a Dodger, Greinke has a 1.96 ERA in seven games (46 innings) against San Francisco, and has never lost.

Last September, Greinke faced off against Bumgarner on September 23, in arguably the biggest game of the season, and the Dodgers won. It was a game that all but ensured the Giants would be in the National League wild-card game, on the fringe of the postseason, nearly ending Bumgarner’s October before it began.

Look at Bumgarner now. Look at Greinke now. Somehow, someone’s number is up.

Dodger Insider magazine — September 2015 edition

In Bullpen, Dodger Insider magazine, Publications

By Jon Weisman

He is a man of family. A man of faith. A man of baseball. And for Clayton Kershaw, the spirit he brings to one informs the spirit he brings to all.

That’s the approach we took to our special, 13-page photo essay in the September issue of Dodger Insider magazine that highlights numerous aspects of Kershaw’s love of the game.

September also presents a package of pieces on the Dodger bullpen — but don’t be nervous. There’s a fun feature on the unique, odd-couple relationship between Kenley Jansen and J.P. Howell, plus a 100-year history of the Dodger relief corps. Another story you should enjoy, written by Mark Langill, is what happens at Dodger Stadium after the final out to tuck our beloved ballpark in at night.

In all, there are more than two dozen stories in Dodger Insider magazine, plus all the usual great photos, games, tidbits and more. For $5 at the ballpark, it’s a bargain.

Dodger Insider magazine is available at all Dodger team stores.

Dodgers reacquire Chris Heisey for outfield depth

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

In addition to Justin Ruggiano, the Dodgers on Monday also reacquired minor-league outfielder Chris Heisey, in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Both players are right-handed bats that can give the Dodgers depth in the outfield, given the recent injuries to Yasiel Puig and Kiké Hernandez. Though neither is on the 40-man roster at this particular moment, both are postseason-eligible.

Heisey had been picked up by Toronto after being designated for assignment July 30 by the Dodgers. He has a .769 OPS in Triple-A this season, and also went 4 for 26 with eight walks in 17 games as a Dodger.

Marathon win a well-earned celebration for Chris Hatcher

In Health/injuries

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By Jon Weisman

Chris Hatcher, man.

Everyone killed Chris Hatcher this year. Practically from the day after his Opening Day save to the days after he came off the disabled list in August, the abuse this guy took. It’s not that he pitched great. But it was the condemnation, the notion that he was hopeless. Forget about the potential. “DFA him!” Or worse.

Then comes a night like tonight, and this is why I love baseball. For the redemption. For the Juan Uribes. For the Chris Hatchers.

It’s why I’m always so shocked that people are so quick to give up on a player. Because the redemption is all around you.

The season wasn’t on the line tonight. But the psyche was. And Chris Hatcher stepped up and threw three shutout innings, the longest outing of his career, and long enough to get the Dodgers to the bottom of the 14th, when Adrian Gonzalez followed a walk and two singles with a game-winning hit to left field, for a 5-4 Dodger victory.

#WHIFF pic.twitter.com/QkG40t38AH

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 1, 2015

It was a win for Hatcher, but less of a fluke than many fans would realize. Since returning to action August 15, Hatcher has thrown 8 1/3 innings and allowed one run on eight baserunners while striking out 11.

It was a win for the bullpen — admittedly, after Juan Nicasio did surrender a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning. But maybe not so much of a fluke either.

That’s just a week of work, but what a week: 26 innings with a 0.69 ERA (plus one additional inherited run allowed to score) and 9.35 strikeouts per nine innings. The walks are still too high — and it was a walk that set up Nicasio for the blown save — but if you can’t see the blue sky there, you must live for clouds.

Not for nothing, the maligned Jim Johnson pitched two shutout innings (despite hitting his fourth batter as a Dodger). Fellow former Brave reliever Luis Avilan pitched a perfect inning and has retired 10 batters in a row over his last five games, all in crucial situations. Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen also had shutout innings.

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Don’t let me leave Gonzalez out of this party. It was the slugging first baseman who, after Marlon Byrd’s unfathomable two-run infield single in the third inning gave the Giants the lead, tied this game in the sixth with a two-run home run, his 25th of the year. (One batter later, Andre Ethier’s home run put the Dodgers ahead.)

And it was Gonzalez who, rather than let the Giants start to think they might sneak out of their bases-loaded, none-out jam in the 15th, delivered the first-pitch, no-doubt game-winner.

Moments like Gonzalez’s are the reasons baseball thrills me. Moments like Hatcher’s are the reasons baseball makes me care.

So much, that I don’t even completely regret missing this …

Mattingly said his plan after J.P. Howell pitched the 15th was for Scott Van Slyke to pitch, Mat Latos to play RF. “I’m serious,” he said.

— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) September 1, 2015

Justin Ruggiano reacquired by Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

On the last day players can come into the organization and be eligible for the postseason, the Dodgers have acquired minor-league outfielder Justin Ruggiano from the Mariners, along with cash considerations, in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Ruggiano, who was drafted by the Dodgers in the 25th round of the 2004 draft, has an .899 OPS for Triple-A Tacoma and .678 OPS in 36 games for Seattle.

On July 19, 2006, Ruggiano was the player to be named later in a trade that sent Dioner Navarro and Jae Seo to Tampa Bay (and Andrew Friedman) for Toby Hall, Mark Hendrickson and cash.

Update: Hernandez to DL, Barnes activated, Bolsinger, Thomas, Peralta to join roster Tuesday

In Health/injuries, Pregame, Transactions

Austin Barnes (Jill Weisleder/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Giants at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Chase Utley, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Justin Turner, 3B
Andre Ethier, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Brett Anderson, P

By Jon Weisman

Austin Barnes, Mike Bolsinger, Ian Thomas and Joel Peralta are set to be the first additions the Dodgers make Tuesday when the active roster limit expands to 40 players, Don Mattingly confirmed to reporters today.

Barnes today was named to the all-Pacific Coast League team at catcher, honoring a season in which he has a .389 on-base percentage and .479 slugging percentage for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Barnes has nine homers, 12 steals (in 14 attempts), 35 walks and 36 strikeouts. As a Dodger this year, he is 4 for 15 with two walks.

Bolsinger is coming off seven innings of shutout ball with 11 strikeouts Saturday against El Paso. In 46 2/3 innings with Oklahoma City this season, he has a 2.31 ERA with 61 strikeouts, complimenting his 2.83 ERA with 78 strikeouts in 89 innings for the Dodgers.

Thomas finishes his minor-league season with a 4.19 ERA for three different teams, with 58 strikeouts in 58 innings. In the Majors this year, his ERA is 4.11 with Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Peralta, who went on the disabled list with a right neck strain August 11 for the second time this year, made three rehab appearances in the past week for Double-A Tulsa, retiring all nine batters he faced. He has a 5.40 ERA in 25 innings this season for the Dodgers.

Julio Urias, Corey Seager and Jharel Cotton, who are all in Triple-A tonight, will not join the Dodgers on Tuesday, and no statement has been made about if/when they might be added to the 40-man roster.

Update: Kiké Hernandez has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, joining Howie Kendrick and Yasiel Puig. Barnes has been activated to take his roster spot.

Julio Urias to make Triple-A start

By Jon Weisman

Julio Urias is bringing his A game to Triple-A tonight.

The 19-year-old phenom is being given his first Triple-A test, starting this evening for Oklahoma City against Iowa.

In his most recent outing Wednesday for Double-A Tulsa, Urias struck out eight in six shutout innings, lowering his August ERA to 2.53 and his 2015 ERA at Double-A to 2.77. He has 74 strikeouts against 69 baserunners in 68 1/3 innings.

You might notice a pattern with Urias. When he made his professional debut at 16 years and 9 1/2 months with Single-A Great Lakes on May 26, 2013, he pitched three shutout innings. In his first game April 4 for Rancho Cucamonga, he pitched four shutout innings. In his Double-A debut April 10 this year, Urias pitched five shutout innings.

Update: Well, it didn’t go well for Urias in his debut. After striking out the first batter and coming within one strike of a perfect inning, Urias allowed three runs on two hits and four walks before getting out of the inning, using 44 pitches. Juan Jaime replaced him in the top of the second.

Match game with Ryu and Anderson

In Pitching

By Jon Weisman

Last year, Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched 152 innings in 26 games at age 27 with a 3.38 ERA.

If Brett Anderson allows two earned runs in his first 4 2/3 innings against the Giants tonight, he will have pitched 152 innings in 26 games at age 27 with a 3.38 ERA.

It’s enough to make you marvel at what Anderson has accomplished, after totaling 123 innings over the previous three years, and it’s enough to make you rue Ryu’s absence after what he had accomplished the previous two years.

Despite the aforementioned similarities, Anderson and Ryu have not been the same pitcher.

Anderson has allowed more walks, contact and baserunners, but that surplus hasn’t led to more runs than Ryu allowed, perhaps because of Anderson’s extreme groundball ratio.

Ryu made four starts against the Giants in 2014, two of them good. By the time Anderson finishes his fourth start against the Giants tonight, hopefully two of them will have been good.

No-no, no-no — Dodgers no-hit again

On August 30, 2015

In History, Postgame

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

By Jon Weisman

Nine innings without a hit, then nine days, then nine more innings without a hit.

That’s the story for the Dodgers, who were no-hit tonight at Dodger Stadium by Jake Arrieta in a 2-0 victory by the Cubs.

Barely a week after Mike Fiers no-hit the Dodgers in Houston, Arrieta was magnificent, his 116 pitches darting in and out of the strike zone, striking out 12 and walking only Jimmy Rollins with two out in the sixth.

Kiké Hernandez reached base on a hard grounder to second baseman Starlin Castro that was ruled an error — on his postgame ESPN interview, Arrieta said he thought it was a hit. The other close calls came when Carl Crawford ended the seventh with a liner up the middle that Castro backhanded, and Hernandez hit a tough grounder to short that Addison Russell corralled for a 6-3 out. (Hernandez tweaked a hamstring running to first on the play, so that could be the most damaging aspect of this game.)

Justin Turner, Rollins and Chase Utley, the same trio that ended the game against Fiers (though in different order), made the final three outs tonight. Turner, in his first at-bat of the night, struck out. Rollins took a called strike three. And Utley, who made the final out in Josh Beckett’s no-hitter and has been involved in three no-hitters in the last nine Dodger games he has played in, struck out swinging.

The Dodgers had never been no-hit twice in the same year, and hadn’t been no-hit in consecutive years since Amos Rusie of the New York Giants and Jack Stivetts of the Boston Beaneaters did so in 1891 and 1892. Los Angeles set a National League record for fewest days between no-hitters, according to Mike Petriello. The MLB record occurred when the Chicago White Sox were no-hit on May 5-6, 1917.

There have been no-hitters at four Dodger games in the past two seasons. Most recent before that was the six-pitcher no-hitter by Seattle in 2012. That ended a 16-year drought of Dodger games without a no-hitter on either side, dating back to Hideo Nomo’s 1996 Coors Field no-hitter. Kent Mercker pitched the last no-hitter against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, in 1994.

Beyond the obvious, the frustration for the Dodgers was wasting what turned out to be some resilient pitching.

It didn’t start that way: Alex Wood was trailing by two runs after three batters, when Chris Denorfia walked with one out in the first and Kris Bryant homered. Wood struggled through the first three innings, throwing 72 pitches.

But he used only 32 pitches over his next three innings, retiring 10 of his last 11 batters. Relief pitchers Juan Nicasio and J.P. Howell generated inning-ending double plays in consecutive innings, as the Dodgers held the Cubs hitless with runners in scoring position tonight (and in the entire series, in fact).

Chicago had 13 hits, two walks and 12 left on base.

Dodgers hope everything’s jake against Arrieta

On August 30, 2015

In Pregame

Cubs at Dodgers, 5:08 p.m.
Jimmy Rollins, SS
Chase Utley, 2B
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, RF
Carl Crawford, LF
Yasmani Grandal, C
Joc Pederson, CF
Kiké Hernandez, 3B
Alex Wood, P

By Jon Weisman

Jake Arrieta might be the top National League Cy Young Award contender outside of Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw. But if the Dodgers can top him tonight, they’ll have a 4 1/2-game lead in the NL West, which would be their biggest since July 12.

San Francisco, which lost to St. Louis today for the second consecutive time this weekend, arrives in Los Angeles on Monday for a highly anticipated three-game series.

Arrieta has a 2.22 ERA, putting him in second place in the NL between Greinke (1.61) and Kershaw (2.24). The 29-year-old righty is fourth in the NL in wins above replacement (4.9), behind Kershaw (6.6), Greinke (5.1) and the slumping Max Scherzer (4.9). In xFIP, Arrieta is in second place behind Kershaw.

Like Kershaw, Arrieta has heated up with the heat. He has a 1.17 ERA with 89 strikeouts in 92 innings since June 21, and in fact, enters tonight’s game as the frontrunner for NL Pitcher of the Month honors (33 1/3 innings, two earned runs, 0.54 ERA, 31 strikeouts).

The Dodgers counter with Alex Wood, who has allowed 27 hits with 14 walks in 29 innings as a Dodger. Wood allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings in his last start.

A win tonight would also tie the Dodgers with the Cubs for the third-best record in the NL: 73-56.

* * *

Kiké Hernandez is getting his first official start for the Dodgers at third base tonight. Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A. beat me to the punch on this, so I’ll just crib from him: Hernandez is the first Dodger to start at second, short, third and all three outfield positions in the same year since Bobby Valentine in 1972.

Hernandez’s experience at third has been limited to 14 2/3 Major League innings and 25 minor-league games, but he has taken grounders there during the season and played there in winter ball, according to Don Mattingly.

Since July 24, Hernandez has a .397 batting average, .443 on-base percentage and .589 slugging percentage.

Hernandez will be batting behind Joc Pederson, whom as ESPN’s Buster Olney pointed out, is on the verge of a unique month in baseball history. No player with at least 20 walks in any calendar month has had fewer than the seven hits by Roger Maris in August 1959, but with two games to go in August 2015, Pederson is at 21 walks and five hits.

Maris went 7 for 79 with 20 walks in August 1959, at age 24. That winter, he would be traded to the Yankees, for whom he would win American League Most Valuable Player awards in 1960 and 1961, hitting 100 home runs.

Vin Scully is the sun and the moon